- - 1 butternut squash or small pumpkin
- - 150-200g of soft goat's cheese
- - 50g cream cheese
- - 2* Great Taste award-winning thyme honey from Melefsis Honey
- - 3* Great Taste award-winning pumpkin seed oil from Best of Hungary
- - Handful of pine nuts
- - Bunch of watercress
- - 100g parmesan or similar hard cheese
- - 1 clove of garlic
- - Sprig of thyme
- - 100g unsalted butter
- - Salt & pepper
- - Splash of olive oil
- - Baby rocket to garnish
Kenny Tutt's butter roasted squash with whipped goat's cheese, watercress pesto & Melefsis thyme honey
Created by 2018 Masterchef champion Kenny Tutt for the Guild of Fine Food's Fine Food Show North, this beautifully simple but impressive recipe using Great Taste award-winning thyme honey from Melefsis Honey and pumpkin seed oil from Best of Hungary.
Kenny cooked this recipe live on our demo stage at this year's Fine Food Show North in front of a live audience.
Ingredients
Method
1. Preheat the oven at 190c (fan) or 200c (non-fan).
2. Deseed the squash and cut into good size wedges just over an inch thick.
3. Using an ovenproof pan, melt the butter with a drizzle of olive oil and brown the squash for 3-4 minutes each side and season with salt & pepper.
4. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes until soft & golden.
5. Place goat's cheese and cream cheese in a whipping bowl and add a dash of olive oil. Beat well by hand or using an electric mixer. Season with some black pepper. (Don't use salt as it can split the cheese). Place in the fridge to chill.
6. Make the pesto by toasting the dry pine nuts in a pan or in the oven until lightly coloured. Roughly chop the garlic and add to a blender with a handful of watercress, pine nuts and finely grated parmesan. Pulse the mixture and then drizzle the pumpkin seed oil to give you a fairly loose pesto that will fall off a spoon. Finish with a little seasoning of salt to taste. Cover and place in the fridge.
7. Build the plate by adding a good spoonful of pesto in the centre of the plate. Place the squash on top and a generous spoonful of the whipped goat's cheese onto the warm squash. Drizzle with thyme honey and garnish with some baby rocket.
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